Niagara Falls manufacturer fined $220K following death after workplace accident in 2023

A manufacturer in Niagara Falls was fined $220,000 following the death of a worker after a workplace accident in 2023.

A court bulletin from the Ontario Ministry of Labour says Brunner Manufacturing & Sales Ltd. was convicted of, “failing to acquaint workers with the hazards of deviating from instructions provided in a machine’s operating manual, contrary to section 25(2)(d) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”

As a penalty, the manufacturer was fined $220,000, as well as a court-imposed 25 per cent victim fine surcharge – credited to a special provincial government fund to help victims of crime.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour’s outline of what happened

On June 24, 2023, two workers at Brunner Manufacturing’s Tecna Forge facility at 5770 Don Murie St., were removing a shim – a type of metal spacer, from a press.

It was the first time the workers had done this particular task.

One worker was in an elevated manbasket attached to a lift truck, and the other worker was seated in the cab of the lift truck working the controls.

The workers removed the machine’s diaphragm piston assembly – which weighed around 2,750 lbs – and suspended it in the air using an overhead crane.

A worker then exited the lift truck and climbed the ladder to reposition the assembly, when it swung toward them, and both the assembly and the worker fell to the ground.

An investigation found that the press’s manual did outline how to safely remove its diaphragm piston using guide studs, but the workers had used modified steel bolts instead, and placed them closer together than recommended.

This had compromised the stability of the suspended load.

The ministry then points out that the workers had also left the assembly suspended, going against the manual’s instructions.

Emergency services responded shortly before 10 a.m., where they found an injured 49-year-old David Norkett.

Norkett was then transported to hospital, where he later died.

WATCH MORE: Man, 49, dies in workplace accident at Niagara Falls’ Tecna Forge